Last day in Rio?? Are you kidding?

To update every one on my last week or so--

The ACC Course is finished except for my final paper on civil society adaptations in the last 30 years in Brazil and Argentina. I´m updating the blog right now instead of writing that. Hm. Anyway, it was a fantastic class, with great discussions, interesting field visits, and a lot of new knowledge.

I went hang gliding of the Pedra Bonita in Rio onWednesday. I was in a tandem with Ricardo, an experienced guy who´s been doing it for years. We jumped off about a 1700ft rock, glided for 15 minutes or so, and landed on the beach. But to say it like that does no justice to how stunning the whole experience was. I mean, I was floating over the most beautiful city in the world as the sun set behind the mountains. And then I landed on an empty beach. I should be able topost pics soon. But just a great experience and something I´ll remember for many years.

Friday we had a party in our hotel room for the group and professors. It was hilarious. We bought tons of fresh fruit from the market and chopped it up into a $4 baby bath we bought at a store near the hotel. Made a huge thing of punch and demanded that everyone dress as another member of the group. My buddy, Partick, just ripped me. Khaki shorts, virginia tee, huge goofy smiles, repetitive speech patterns (wonderful, big, clown, are you kidding me?, hup!) and pretending like he was fixing his hair. Devestating. Then we went out to Lapa again.

More time on the beach and playing grabass (see below) until all of the feathers and sand fell out of the pouch. Dagger.

Last night was Live Earth on the beach in Copacabana. Very very fun concert with like 700,000 people there. O Rappa was a ridiculous Brazilian rapper. Macy Grey was a miserable, drunk mess. Lenny Kravitz, for what he is, puts on a good show and the Brazilians love him.

Bus to Sao Paulo arrives at 3:30 on Tuesday. Sad to say goodbye to all the amazing people on this trip, but Wellington awaits.

Davis